an opinionated sports blog

June 21, 2017

Last week we argued that, despite what commentators will tell you, the Stanley Cup is no harder to win than any other league’s championship. In fact, it might actually be a little bit easier than some.

But if the Cup isn’t the hardest to win, then what is?

Just to prove that we’re not biased against ice hockey, we do believe one of the hardest championships in sports to win is actually the Memorial Cup – but it might also be one of the easiest, too.

To capture the Memorial Cup, you have to get through the grind of the OHL, QMJHL or WHL regular season and then win four rounds in the playoffs to even qualify. Then you have to beat the other league champions in a round-robin tournament to win it all. Or, you could just host the tournament, granting you a spot regardless of your finish in the playoffs, and then win it all like the Windsor Spitfires did this year. It’s a real tossup whether to throw the Mem Cup in the easy or hard category because of this fact.

If we’re talking about not just North American leagues, then really the debate ends in place: The Champions League final.

This is without a doubt one of, if not the toughest championships in sports to win.

Just think about the name itself: The Champions League. This is a tournament that features only the best teams in Europe and runs them through the gauntlet of group and then knockout stages – all while the teams continue to compete in their domestic competitions, hoping to secure a place in next season’s Champions League.

In all, this is essentially a two-year long competition to crown a winner of the aptly named Champions Cup. Imagine having to win the Stanley Cup just to qualify for another tournament the following year while you’re defending your title. That’s about as hard as it gets.

By sheer numbers, there’s no major tournament in the world bigger than England’s FA Cup. While many won’t start paying attention until the third or fourth rounds, when some teams with name recognition enter the tournament, at the beginning of this annual tournament, there are 736 teams involved.

Yes, you read that correctly: Seven hundred and thirty-six teams.

Semi-pro and amateur teams across England are eligible to qualify for the FA Cup, making it also one of the most inclusive tournaments around.

And if you don’t think that one of those beer league sides can make an honest run, you’re wrong: Fifth-tier Lincoln City actually hosted Arsenal in a quarterfinal game this year after beating several teams well above it in the tables – including Premier League side Burnley – along the way.

If we broaden our argument to international competition, then soccer, again, likely holds the most difficult trophy to win: The World Cup.

Starting with the fact that nearly every country in the world has a chance to qualify for the final tells you just the breadth of this whole thing. And while some countries are obviously better than others, you can’t overlook the fact that soccer is most widely played sport in the world.

Oh, and the whole process takes nearly four years to crown a champion, with qualifying starting just months after the previous tournament ends. Something else to consider is that being one of the best players ever in the sport, doesn’t necessarily mean you will be able to hoist the World Cup trophy.

Two of the best players in the history of soccer – that are playing right now – Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, haven’t won a World Cup. When you look at the list of the top scorers in NHL history, there is only one player in the Top 15, Marcel Dionne, that doesn’t have a ring.

But, oh, wait, there’s actually another club tournament that many won’t even think of: The FIFA Club World Cup. While it is true that only the representatives from Europe and Brazil have won the tournament the 11 times it has taken place, you can’t ignore that you literally have to be the best team from your continent to even compete in this tournament.

But due to the fact that it’s a small competition with just four teams in it and it takes place around the Christmas break, usually in Japan – making watching it very difficult due to the time difference – it’s easy to forget that the Club World Cup even exists.

So, when you figure that there are competitions of this scale taking place in Europe and around the globe, there’s no way , in good conscience, that you can claim that the Stanley Cup is the hardest trophy to win in sports.